Time Off
by Ryan Xavier
Summary: Why is it only Zero and Sigma get to come back from the dead? What if it were standard procedure to restart damaged reploids? A fic for Zero and Iris fans. NON-YAOI.


DISCLAIMER: None of the characters here, or the universe itself, are   
  
mine. I make no claim to them.  
  
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Foreword: Many people know me as an Eva fic writer. Indeed I am. But   
  
I'm also a Mega Man fan. I wrote most of this story in the space of   
  
about 12 hours, some time after playing Mega Man X4. I was enthralled   
  
with the idea of a Mega Man game almost having a plot for once, and I   
  
had to do something with it.  
  
As you might guess, there are Mega Man X4 spoilers here, so if you   
  
haven't played that game, read at your own risk.  
  
I should say, this is a NON-YAOI fic. Repeat, there is no guy-on-guy   
  
action here. Now that I've alienated about 90% of the fanbase, I   
  
present to you my little Mega Man X story, focusing on the coolest   
  
reploid of them all, Zero.  
  
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" " = speech  
  
= italics (emphasis)  
  
= thoughts  
  
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Time Off  
  
Author: Ryan Xavier  
  
Zero opened his eyes, blinking slowly as his body switched out of its   
  
dormant mode. Groggily, he looked at his reflection in the glass of   
  
the maintenance capsule, watching it stare back at him with unfocused   
  
eyes. He was currently in that blissful instant between asleep and   
  
awake where his memory hadn't yet started up. As the instant passed   
  
and his body completed its startup procedures, he groaned. He'd just   
  
remembered something he hadn't wanted to.  
  
Today was his day off.  
  
The pod hissed quietly as it clamshelled open, moving its glass cover   
  
aside for Zero to step out. He sat up in the pod, putting on hand on   
  
his head and running his fingers through his hair. His helmet and most   
  
of his armor had been removed during his maintenance hours, as per the   
  
usual procedure. In case of emergency, the pod would re-armor him   
  
before waking up. It seemed there was no emergency, then. Just his   
  
luck.  
  
After Sigma had gone maverick, Dr. Cain had instituted a new schedule   
  
for Maverick Hunter headquarters, one that gave all Hunters one day off   
  
per week. The idea was that reploids, with their complex and delicate   
  
neural nets, needed some time where they weren't fighting. If their   
  
days consisted solely of battle, stopping only to repair or perform   
  
routine maintenance, then it was only a matter of time before they all   
  
went crazy. Even if their metal bodies could handle the stress, their   
  
minds just couldn't keep up that kind of pace.  
  
Zero hopped out of the maintenance pod, his feet clanging noisily on   
  
the floor. He'd thought the whole 'time off' thing had been a good   
  
idea too, back when he'd first become a Maverick Hunter. It seemed to   
  
work, too; the number of Maverick Hunters who themselves had gone   
  
maverick had dropped by more than ninety percent since the program had   
  
been established.  
  
But that had been in the past. Now, Zero wished they at least didn't   
  
make time off mandatory. As it stood, when his day off came around, he   
  
was strictly prohibited from fighting, or even carrying weapons. His   
  
trusted Z-saber and Z-buster were sealed back in the maintenance pod,   
  
kept under lock and key so he couldn't get at them. Without them, he   
  
felt more vulnerable than he did without his armor. On these days, he   
  
found himself wishing Sigma would come around and try some other evil   
  
scheme, as only an emergency of that magnitude would be enough to call   
  
Hunters back from their time off.  
  
He walked out of the maintenance room, letting the pod hiss closed,   
  
locking securely until he came back.  
  
"All right," X said into his communicator. "I understand. Second   
  
District?"  
  
He tapped the shoulder of the spotter in front of him, making sure she   
  
was listening. The girl gave no indication she noticed, but the screen   
  
in front of her flashed, giving a satellite view of the Second   
  
District. As X's eyes focused on the screen, a scattering of dots   
  
appeared, most of them blue but a few red. His eyes narrowed, seeing   
  
this. Red stood for maverick, and blue for noncombatant.  
  
"I see them," X said. "Intel indicates a half-dozen mavericks. Is   
  
that how many you...yes, yes we're on our way."  
  
He looked back to the operator. "Iris, contact the fifteenth unit.   
  
They should be armed by now."  
  
"They are, sir," Iris said flatly. "15th unit is currently on standby.   
  
Shall I send them to the Second District?"  
  
"As fast as you can."  
  
"Understood."  
  
X let out a slow breath. The day was off to a violent start, to say   
  
the least. Six reploids going maverick at once was not uncommon, but   
  
it was still a huge problem for the Hunters. Fifteenth unit would have   
  
to evacuate the noncombatants as fast as possible, and try to minimize   
  
property damage. All the while they were going to be getting shot at   
  
by crazed reploids who didn't care about things like civilian   
  
casualties or collateral damage. In other words, it was another   
  
regular day at Maverick Hunter HQ.  
  
"Sir, fifteenth unit is mobilized. Split Mushroom indicates their ETA   
  
is three minutes."  
  
"Good job, Iris."  
  
"Yes, sir. I am returning to surveillance now." Even as she said   
  
this, the screen flickered again in front of Iris's unblinking eyes,   
  
breaking into a dozen smaller screens, each with their own view of the   
  
city.  
  
X nodded quietly at this. His focus was broken, however, as he heard   
  
the door slide open.  
  
"Zero?" he asked, seeing his friend walk in. At first, he didn't   
  
recognize Zero, who was without his classic red body armor. The blond   
  
ponytail reaching down to his ankles was still there though. How Zero   
  
didn't trip over that was a constant mystery to the other Hunters. X   
  
shook his head, suppressing a smile at the thought of the ultra-  
  
coordinated Zero getting tangled up in his own pretty-boy hair.  
  
"What're you doing here?" X asked. "Thought this was your day to   
  
yourself."  
  
"You know me," he said nonchalantly, shrugging. "Anyway, coming here's   
  
better than watching the news channel. More up-to-date, too."  
  
"Right..." X said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.  
  
"Good morning, sir," Iris's voice came.  
  
Both X and Zero looked to the girl. Iris was looking back, face   
  
expressionless. She met Zero's eyes for a moment, then turned away,   
  
looking back at her screen. "You understand you are prohibited from   
  
engaging in combat or - "  
  
"I know," Zero bit out.  
  
"- combat related activity of any sort," Iris finished, as though Zero   
  
hadn't even spoken.  
  
X could see Zero's expression, looking at the back of Iris' head. His   
  
eyes were narrow, burning with a sort of quiet anger. It wasn't anger   
  
directed at Iris, though. Rather, it was aimed inward, at himself. X   
  
thought it best to step in, at this point.  
  
"Come on over here," X said, throwing one arm across Zero's shoulders   
  
and turning him away from Iris. They walked over to the other side of   
  
of the Maverick HQ command center. Behind them, Iris promptly forgot   
  
they existed, her eyes focused entirely on the screen in front of her.  
  
"So what are you doing here, anyway?" X whispered to his friend.  
  
"Just staying up-to-date on things," Zero replied, shrugging again.   
  
"Want to check in on my friends, too. Figured this is where they'd   
  
be."  
  
X nodded, slowly. Every once in awhile his and Zero's time off would   
  
fall on the same day. When that happened he usually managed to drag   
  
his friend out of Maverick HQ and into the city, but every other time   
  
it was like Zero was still at work, just not in his armor.  
  
"How's Iris?" Zero asked, after a pause.  
  
"Well, you could ask her yourse - "  
  
"How's Iris?" Zero asked, more firmly this time, his eyes going hard.  
  
X sighed quietly. "All right," he answered. "As good as you can hope   
  
for." Zero just nodded at this, looking away. "Her reprogramming is   
  
still pretty fresh, Zero. Give it some time."  
  
"Time, yeah, of course..." Zero muttered. He looked at one of the   
  
screens. "You're sending fifteenth unit in?"  
  
"Yeah, I thought it would be a good way to see if Mushroom's   
  
reprogramming has taken - "  
  
"No, no!" Zero cut him off, shaking his head. "He's only been in a few   
  
sims, you don't want to dump him right into a live-fire combat   
  
situation like that. He might go unhinged right when you don't need   
  
him to." He turned and grabbed another spotter sitting at a terminal.   
  
"Get me the fifteenth unit," he said. "I want them called off. Is   
  
sixth unit on duty?"  
  
"Uh...yes sir..." the reploid at the terminal said hesitantly. "I can   
  
get you a connection to them if you like."  
  
"Yeah, do that please."  
  
"No, don't," X cut in. He put a hand on the operator's shoulder.   
  
"Ignore those orders, please. Commander Zero isn't on duty today." At   
  
this, X shot Zero a cold look. Zero returned the gaze, unflinching.   
  
Between them, the poor operator became steadily more frazzled, confused   
  
on what to do.  
  
"Just keep the fifteenth unit moving," X ordered, not taking his eyes   
  
off of Zero. Without waiting for a reply from the operator, X put his   
  
hand on Zero's shoulder and started pushing him towards the exit.  
  
"You shouldn't be here right now," X said, fighting off Zero's   
  
resistance.  
  
Zero twisted, shrugging off X. "Fine," he said. He straightened out   
  
his ponytail. "Maybe I'll see what's going on in...Second District,   
  
was it?" he said, smirking, as he headed for the door.  
  
X shook his head quietly, watching the door close behind his friend.   
  
His eyes trailed back over to Iris. The female reploid was still   
  
working diligently, giving data and orders to the mobilized Hunter   
  
units, keeping them informed on the movements of both the targets and   
  
the civilians. She hadn't even looked up when Zero had left the room.  
  
Zero flew through the air, propelled by the rocket-assisted hydraulics   
  
in his legs. His Z-saber hummed in his hand, slashing through three   
  
aerial mines in a single slash.  
  
He landed solidly on the floor and regarded his opponent. It was a   
  
combat frame, an exo-armor suit a reploid could seal himself into to   
  
increase his fighting ability. A combat model like Zero had no need of   
  
such a suit, but it hadn't been designed for him. Rather, it had been   
  
made so that non-combat reploids could have a chance of defending   
  
themselves in case of a sudden attack. It was a powerful unit, too: so   
  
heavily armored it was nearly indestructible, and was capable of firing   
  
immense beams of energy. As if that wasn't enough, it also had a   
  
defense circuit that released aerial homing mines every time it was   
  
attacked.  
  
There was a standard protocol for what to do if a maverick was ever   
  
found in one of these suits. After a few hits, the suit would deploy   
  
an orbiting crystal that aided defense and had an energy beam weapon of   
  
its own. But this crystal was also the suit's weak point: destroying   
  
it would cause the suit to self-destruct. The force of the suit's   
  
explosion would barely scratch a reploid like Zero, but a non-combat   
  
reploid sealed in the suit when it exploded would almost certainly   
  
suffer critical damage.  
  
He'd trashed dozens of these things in the simulator before. He'd   
  
gotten to the point that he could take one down without sustaining any   
  
damage at all. Only this time was different: he was not following   
  
standard procedure. He was trying to find out a way to bring this   
  
thing down without killing the rider.  
  
More mines approached. He struck them down without even thinking about   
  
it. He jumped, landing on the thing's shoulders and slashing at the   
  
window with his Z-saber. As always, the armor simply channeled away   
  
the energy, suffering no damage while at the same time letting out more   
  
mines. Zero somersaulted off its shoulders, struck down the mines in   
  
mid-air, and landed behind the thing, going for its legs. Still no   
  
effect. This time, the crystal deployed. Zero looked at it, and its   
  
promise of a victory. He did not want to be beaten by this thing, but   
  
apparently it was so solid that the only way to bring it down was   
  
through destruction of that crystal, now hovering just a few meters   
  
away from his face.  
  
No, he refused to believe it. No design could be so perfect as to only   
  
have one weak spot. He just had to find some other vulnerability.   
  
With that in mind, he rolled between the suit's legs, striking at it as   
  
he did so. Still nothing. The suit was nothing but armor and   
  
hydraulics; it didn't have a soft spot. Its power source was the   
  
crystal, and its guidance system, i.e. the rider, was exactly what Zero   
  
was trying not to destroy.  
  
More mines descended. He slashed as fast as he could, ramming the suit   
  
with his shoulder in frustration. The suit barely even moved with the   
  
impact, though Zero's shoulder pauldron was dented. Even as he   
  
recovered from this, both crystal and suit fired their energy beams,   
  
catching him in the crossfire.  
  
Zero cried out as the intense heat set in, starting to melt some of his   
  
armor off. He dove out of the beams, auto-repair systems already   
  
trying to fix the damage to his shell.  
  
"Damn you!" he shouted, jumping on top of the suit again. "Why can't   
  
you just die?!" He slashed wildly with his Z-saber, leaving nothing   
  
but a few scorch marks on its surface. He was so distracted trying to   
  
get through the armor plating that he didn't even see the mines coming   
  
up behind him until it was too late. He was blasted off as the mines   
  
detonated, sending him flying through the air, towards what was going   
  
to be a painful face-first meeting with the floor.  
  
He never hit the ground, however. As he sailed through the air, the   
  
world jumped, then suddenly dissolved, everything but Zero vanishing in   
  
a sudden wave of static.  
  
"Hey!" Zero shouted, annoyed. He opened his eyes.  
  
He was back in the VR center of Maverick Hunter headquarters. The   
  
simulation he'd been running had ended before he was ready, leaving him   
  
a bit disoriented and off-balance. As such, he didn't move when   
  
someone yanked the connection cable out of his body, disconnecting him   
  
fully from the VR computer that had been running the simulation.  
  
"Get up," X's voice ordered.  
  
Zero put one hand to his forehead, fingers brushing the blue gem that   
  
remained there even when his helmet was off. "What is it?" he asked,   
  
angrily.  
  
"You should know," X said, grabbing Zero's other arm and dragging him   
  
out of the VR couch. "What're you doing here?"  
  
"Hey, it's allowed," Zero snapped at him. "Not real fighting, you   
  
know."  
  
"I know that," X shot back. He paused for a moment, looking at his   
  
friend. "Why are you here, anyway? I thought you'd have better things   
  
to do."  
  
"This is important," Zero answered. "Keeping my skills sharp, and   
  
all."  
  
"Yeah, but..." X said, shaking his head. "You've got six other days to   
  
do that. Why is it that when Dr. Cain himself says you don't have to   
  
fight, you go looking for the nearest battle?"  
  
"It's just how I am," Zero answered, more quietly this time. He headed   
  
for the door.   
  
X followed him. "It's not healthy," he continued.  
  
"Thank you, mother. I'll keep that in mind." The two of them exited   
  
the VR station and headed down the hallway, Zero trying to outspeed X   
  
and not having any luck.  
  
"Is it because of Iris?" X finally asked, after several minutes of   
  
walking in silence.  
  
Zero stopped short, whirling on his friend. The look on Zero's face   
  
was one of almost unbridled rage. His jaw was clamped together, his   
  
eyes burning as he stared at X, and his fists were clenched into tight   
  
balls. Even though he was the one wearing full combat armor, for a   
  
moment X was afraid for his life. He made himself relax, fingers   
  
gingerly touching his X-buster to remind himself that it was there.  
  
"What do you think?" Zero almost growled out.  
  
X closed his eyes for a moment. "Sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have   
  
asked. But I'm just telling you, as a friend, that killing yourself or   
  
driving yourself crazy won't help anyone."  
  
Zero turned on his heel, showing his back to X. He didn't start   
  
walking again, though. "I know that," he said, quietly. "But it's all   
  
I can think to do."  
  
X said nothing to this, sensing that more was coming.  
  
"Iris died because I couldn't stop fighting," Zero said. He stepped   
  
over to one wall of the corridor and leaned against it, closing his   
  
eyes. He looked tired, suddenly. "Because I couldn't put down my   
  
sword, things just got more and more out of hand. Even before   
  
that..." he looked at his hand, now, the one that normally held his Z-  
  
saber. "...even before that, I wouldn't let her get close to me. I   
  
knew she had a crush on me, and all. But I'm a fighter, before   
  
anything else. I can't let something like...that get in the way.   
  
But somehow..."  
  
X nodded at this, but still remained silent. He quietly thanked fate   
  
that this hall was empty, at the moment.  
  
"Somehow she grew on me," Zero said. "I don't know how. But   
  
then...well, then we had that thing in space, and..." he shrugged.   
  
"You know it's policy to reprogram mavericks so they can go back into   
  
society. I mean, that's what happened to me. They let me keep my   
  
fighting ability, but changed my personality so I was less..."  
  
"Homicidal?" X ventured, seeing Zero search for a word.  
  
Zero looked at him, confused for a moment, then grinned, slightly.   
  
"Yeah, I guess that'll do. Made me into a good little Maverick Hunter.   
  
Iris, they let her keep her spotter status, but..." he closed his eyes,   
  
saying nothing more.  
  
X understood. He'd seen Iris since the reprogramming. A toaster had   
  
more personality. But then again, it made logical sense. It had been   
  
Iris' feelings for both her brother and Zero that had caused her to go   
  
maverick. So, if she were stripped of all feelings, then she could go   
  
back to being an effective Spotter.  
  
"So then why..." X asked. "If not being able to stop was what did all   
  
this, then why do you want to keep fighting?"  
  
"Because," Zero answered. "Because every time I think about it, I get   
  
angry at myself. So angry, I can feel the old me starting to wake up."  
  
"You mean - "  
  
"The me from when I was a maverick," Zero explained. "You can't just   
  
delete part of a reploid's personality, we're too complex. A little   
  
bit of me is still like I was back then. It's just waiting for me to   
  
lose control, get put under such stress that I just can't resist it any   
  
longer..." he shook his head. "The only way I can make it stop is to   
  
keep fighting. When I'm in the middle of a battle, I don't have to   
  
think, or feel. I just..." he trailed off, looking to X and shrugging.  
  
X nodded. "I understand," he said, quietly. "But what you're doing   
  
still isn't healthy." Zero sagged at this, nodding mutely. "Now, as   
  
the ranking officer in this hallway," X said, putting his fists on his   
  
hips, "I order you out of this building." Zero cocked an eyebrow at   
  
him. "I don't want to see you back here until after sunset."  
  
Zero got up from the wall. "There's more out there than just fighting,   
  
Zero," X continued. "I just think you should go look for it."  
  
"Maybe," Zero said, starting down the hall. "But then again, we sure   
  
do a lot of fighting, don't we?"  
  
X said nothing to this, watching Zero proceed down the hall. Zero came   
  
to an intersection, turned, and abruptly stopped.  
  
"Uh..." Zero mumbled, his face going white with shock.  
  
X was by his friend's side in an instant, following Zero's gaze.   
  
Standing just around the corner was none other than Iris, her placid   
  
gaze aimed politely at the wall, and a folder clasped protectively   
  
between her hands.  
  
"Uh..." Zero said again.  
  
"Commander X," Iris began, turning sharply to face X. She handed him   
  
the file. "The maverick situation from District 2 has been resolved.   
  
Here is the report from the fifteenth unit."  
  
X took the folder, snapping it open and having a look at the papers   
  
inside. "So much for the paperless office, right?" he asked, grinning   
  
at Iris.  
  
The girl did not return the smile. She continued staring at X, having   
  
not even acknowledged Zero's presence yet. "Is there anything else,   
  
sir?" she asked.  
  
"Uh...X, I'll leave you to this," Zero muttered. "Maybe I'll   
  
just...walk around, or something." He started down the hallway,   
  
glancing at Iris as he passed by her. She did not even turn her eyes   
  
to look at him.  
  
"See you later, Zero," X called after his friend. He looked back to   
  
Iris a moment later. "Um..." he began. "How much of that did you   
  
hear, anyway?"  
  
"How much of what, sir?" Iris asked innocently.  
  
"How long have you been standing here?" X asked, changing tactics.  
  
"Since you and commander Zero emerged from the VR suite, sir."  
  
"Oh..." X said nervously, feeling himself go a little red. "Well, I   
  
hope you don't feel offended or anything. Zero really cares about you   
  
and...uh..."  
  
"What he said is true, sir."  
  
X's brow furrowed. "What?"  
  
"The reploid consciousness is highly decentralized. A personality   
  
trait cannot be deleted, simply repressed. Under the right conditions,   
  
a previous personality can be made to emerge."  
  
"What do you mean, 'the right conditions'?"  
  
"A situation of extreme stress," Iris answered matter-of-factly.   
  
"Critical injury can also trigger a regression." She met X's eyes. "I   
  
have conducted several studies on this matter."  
  
"Have you, now?" X asked icily. He took a breath. "OK then, back to   
  
business. Has there been any other maverick activity reported?"  
  
Iris nodded, once. "Affirmative. Possibility of mavericks gathering   
  
in District 6."  
  
"Junkyard?" X asked, not quite believing it. "How about you show me at   
  
the command center..."  
  
Iris shook her head, cutting him off. "I apologize sir, but I was   
  
headed to maintenance for the next few hours."  
  
"All right then. Have fun," X joked. Iris, predictably, did not   
  
laugh. Without another word passing between them, they parted ways, a   
  
very confused X headed towards the command center and an impassive Iris   
  
headed towards the maintenance bays.  
  
To his credit, Zero almost managed to comply with X's orders. He'd   
  
been told not to come back until the end of the day. As he came back   
  
through the doors to Maverick Hunter HQ, the sun was just setting   
  
behind him. He figured that was close enough.  
  
He'd intended to just go on a brief walk, something to give him time to   
  
sort out his thoughts. He'd ended up going all over the city. It   
  
hadn't been an unpleasant experience, though. He'd gotten to feel the   
  
sun on his face. Seeing the city not being attacked had been nice,   
  
too. It was good to remind himself once in awhile that all his   
  
fighting was accomplishing something.  
  
Now, though, he figured he could probably just plug himself back into a   
  
maintenance pod and sit there until tomorrow, when he'd be back on duty   
  
and this whole 'time off' thing could be forgotten until next week.   
  
But before he did that, he had to clean up. Maverick Hunter HQ was a   
  
sparkling clean building, kept that way by the best technology the   
  
cleaning industries could provide. The rest of the city was not quite   
  
so spotless, and he'd managed to get a fine coating of dust and dirt   
  
collected onto his body. That was going to chafe under the armor if he   
  
didn't clean it off.  
  
He entered into the building's main washroom, a place full of pressure   
  
washers with so much power they could liquefy cement. It was just the   
  
ticket for a hardy reploid like him. Zero patted the bottle he'd   
  
brought in with him. "Ah, Herbal Essences...without you, I am   
  
nothing."  
  
He heard a dull crackling, like a bad electrical connection. Above   
  
him, one of the overhead lights flickered.  
  
"Damn piece of junk..." he muttered, tapping the light with his finger.   
  
"You'd think if they could make reploids they could at least make a   
  
decent lamp..."  
  
The light finally stopped flickering, going back to its constant, harsh   
  
glow. Still, Zero's sensitive ears could pick up that electrical   
  
crackling coming from somewhere.  
  
"Probably another light," he reasoned out loud, as he started looking   
  
for an open washroom. He ignored the annoying noise, even as it became   
  
louder.  
  
He'd just found a stall that looked clean enough for him when he saw   
  
something out the corner of his eye: a lock of brown hair, lying on the   
  
floor, trailing around the corner and into another stall. Zero quirked   
  
an eyebrow at it, not quite understanding.  
  
"Hello?" he asked, his voice echoing off the walls. There was no   
  
response.  
  
He looked back and forth, as though trying to find someone else to   
  
explain the situation. Finally, he sighed, and went to have a look.   
  
As he came around the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks. He'd   
  
found the source of that crackling noise.  
  
Iris lay on the floor, glazed eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. Her   
  
limbs were askew, and her beret lay forgotten on the floor. Her chest   
  
plate was opened, revealing the vital components stored there. What   
  
made Zero's heart freeze was the damage he saw: inside Iris' chest, it   
  
was havoc. Wires had been pulled out, circuits had melted, vital   
  
components nearly torn from their sockets. She literally oozed solder   
  
and silicon, liquefied by the heat of a power surge.  
  
"I..." Zero tried to say. "I...I...Ir...Ir...is?" He slowly knelt   
  
down next to her. Hands shaking, he touched her face. It was cold.   
  
He tried to say something, choked as his throat closed. He swallowed   
  
and tried again. "Iris?"  
  
Zero stared, disbelieving, at her unresponsive form. He'd felt   
  
something inside him turn to ice the moment he'd seen her on the floor.   
  
That frozen spot was growing, slowly spreading through him, killing him   
  
from the inside out. He could only stare; even though it was right   
  
before his eyes, he couldn't yet believe what he saw.  
  
Iris' eyes suddenly twitched. Agonizingly slow, they turned in their   
  
sockets, landing their unfocused gaze on Zero's face.  
  
Iris mouthed a word, mech fluid trickling from her mouth as her lips   
  
parted. She repeated the motion, this time her voice synthesizer   
  
struggling to keep up, sounding like it was under water:  
  
"Ze...ro..."  
  
Zero slammed his eyes shut, feeling something well up behind them. He   
  
had seen destruction before, and death, both among reploids and humans.   
  
He had been the cause of many of those deaths. But this was different.   
  
This was not just another reploid, another nameless face to find lying   
  
in a puddle of its own vital fluids. This...was Iris.  
  
"Zero..."   
  
Zero opened his eyes again. They went wide a moment later, as he saw   
  
Iris' face again.   
  
Iris was smiling.  
  
Something in her exposed chest cavity sparked, and her whole body   
  
shook, quaking with the effort of staying functional. More mech fluid   
  
trickled from her lips, framing the smile Zero had been wishing to see   
  
since Iris had been brought back online.  
  
"No..." Zero muttered. "No..."  
  
He put one arm under Iris' neck, and another under her knees. Lifting   
  
her carefully from the ground, he started to move. First it was a   
  
careful walk, so as not to disturb the precious cargo, but it sped up,   
  
to a run, then a sprint, then a full-out dash that reduced both of them   
  
to little more than a blur down the halls of Maverick Hunter HQ.  
  
The last thing Iris - the old Iris, that was - had done before she'd   
  
died had been to look at him, and smile. That smile had haunted Zero's   
  
dreams ever since that day. Both hating it for what it had meant and   
  
wanting to see it again on Iris' cold, expressionless face, that memory   
  
had nearly torn him apart.   
  
He would not let it happen again. If he could just make it to repair   
  
bay, maybe...maybe...  
  
As he sped through the corridors, the lighting suddenly changed, going   
  
from the sterile overhead lamps to the glowing red of an emergency.   
  
The PA system crackled.  
  
"This is a Code 1 Alert!' it announced. "Maverick buildup in District   
  
6. Military models involved, believed to possess assault-class   
  
weapons. All units, full alert!"  
  
Zero closed his eyes again, but only for a microsecond, as he   
  
maneuvered through the halls, flashing past confused reploids who   
  
barely had time to recognize him before he was gone. This was it.   
  
This was what he'd been wanting to have happen on his day off. Some   
  
excuse to don the armor again, and...  
  
Iris twitched in his arms, something else in her chest melting down.   
  
She spasmed, coughing up mech fluid that looked so much like blood.   
  
Zero held her tighter to him.  
  
He just had to get her to repair bay...  
  
A few minutes later, X was running. Not quite as quickly as Zero had   
  
been, but he was still moving quite rapidly. In his mind, he was   
  
following Zero's transponder signal. Of all the times for his friend   
  
to disappear...  
  
He tore through the entrance to the repair bay almost before the door   
  
had opened. The lights, sensing movement, obligingly switched on,   
  
lighting up the room as bright as day. X, momentarily blinded, closed   
  
his eyes.  
  
"Zero?" he asked the room. "Zero, are you here?"  
  
He blinked, letting his eyes recover from the sudden flash of the   
  
overheads. "Zero, we've got a situation in District 6. They need us   
  
down there, now."  
  
He moved among the banks of computers, tools, and repair capsules,   
  
looking for his friend.  
  
"Zero, come on. Now is not the time for this. I've already got your   
  
0th unit mobilized for you, you just have to..." X trailed off as he   
  
rounded a corner, and found the errant reploid.  
  
Zero was sitting placidly by a repair pod, leaning on his knees and   
  
staring at the glass window of the pod. He was in full body armor once   
  
again, the familiar red metal suit adorning his body, right down to the   
  
helmet that sealed in all of his hair except for the ponytail. His Z-  
  
saber hung on his back, and X could see Zero's arm was currently fitted   
  
with the Z-buster, as well.  
  
"Zero, I..." X began. He cut off as Zero turned his head, locking his   
  
gaze with X's. For the second time that day, X felt afraid, looking at   
  
the other reploid. Zero's face was cold, lips tight, all emotion   
  
drained from him. But his eyes were another story. They stared   
  
unblinkingly at him, just a slight hint of madness in their emerald   
  
centers.  
  
Zero's arm twitched. "Yes, X?" he asked.  
  
X treaded carefully. "We're being called out," he started. "We've got   
  
a situation in - "  
  
"Do me one favor," Zero said quietly, but firmly enough to cut X off.   
  
X blinked, looking at his friend.  
  
"Don't ask me to go," Zero continued, without waiting for a response   
  
from X. He looked back to the pod. "If you ask me to go, then I'll   
  
have to go." He shrugged, a small smile tugging at his lips. "It's   
  
what we reploids have to do, isn't it? Follow our orders like good   
  
little servants."  
  
"Zero..." X said, slowly walking towards his friend. "Get a hold of   
  
yourself. What's wrong?"  
  
Zero said nothing. But X got his answer all the same. As he moved,   
  
the glare of the overhead lights moved off the glass window of the   
  
repair pod, letting him see who was inside of it.   
  
"Oh..." X whispered. One glance at Iris' body was enough to see the   
  
extent of the damage. In the pod, repair bots were working on her as   
  
fast as they could. X winced as he saw Iris twitch. She was still   
  
alive...  
  
"What happened?" he asked, gesturing to the pod.  
  
Zero just shook his head, closing his eyes.  
  
X took a breath. "Did you..."  
  
"No!" Zero shouted, his head whipping around to face X once more. "I   
  
didn't lay a hand on her, except to bring her here."  
  
"Oh..." X said, swallowing. If Zero was telling the truth, then that   
  
was a relief. He was a bit concerned, after what Iris had said in the   
  
hallway. If something had happened to bring out Zero's old maverick   
  
self, then armed as he was with those Maverick Hunter weapons, he'd be   
  
unstoppable. There'd be no telling what would happen, how many would   
  
die...  
  
X shook his head, blocking out that train of thought. "Zero, we need   
  
you. She'll be all right. She's safe, now."  
  
Zero didn't respond, at first. He just kept his eyes on Iris' body,   
  
showing no emotion even when she shuddered in pain. X was just about   
  
to repeat himself when Zero finally spoke.  
  
"She died the first time because I couldn't stop fighting," he said,   
  
quietly. He looked at X again, his eyes much softer this time. "I   
  
can't just leave her again," he explained. "Even if I'm a reploid,   
  
I've got a right to make my own decisions, to feel any way I want." He   
  
hung his head. "And I want to stay here."  
  
X sighed, quietly. He walked over to Zero and put one hand on his   
  
friend's shoulder. "Zero..." he began.  
  
"You don't really need me, I know that," Zero said, without looking   
  
at him. "You just want to have me around as a backup if you fail." He   
  
shook his head. "You won't fail, X. You...you're a better Maverick   
  
Hunter than I am."  
  
X removed his hand from Zero's shoulder. A long moment passed, during   
  
which neither of them said anything. X looked at Zero, who looked at   
  
Iris. Finally, X sighed, half-turning away.  
  
"Fine," he said. "I'll tell them you're unavailable."  
  
Zero did not move, even as X walked away, and left the room. Some time   
  
after the door hissed closed behind his friend, he mouthed two words:  
  
"Thank you."  
  
A power surge directly to the main processor is usually enough to kill   
  
a reploid. The delicate circuitry simply cannot withstand being   
  
overloaded, and fails. Without that network of wire tracery, no   
  
reploid can operate. It has been compared to having one's own heart   
  
torn out.  
  
For that reason, most reploids have numerous back ups and fail-safes to   
  
prevent this occurrence. A simple fuse is often enough to prevent   
  
catastrophic failure. Reploids operating as Maverick Hunters are built   
  
much more sturdily, often with full backup systems just in case. This   
  
even went for the Spotters, the ones who, if all went well, never saw   
  
combat first-hand. No reploid had ever been hurt by being too safe   
  
against overload.  
  
Whatever had happened to Iris, it had gotten around all that. A huge   
  
voltage had been blasted directly into her processor core, melting key   
  
parts of both her primary and backup circuits. Some credit is due to   
  
the one who designed those systems, as even half-destroyed they   
  
continued functioning, albeit inefficiently. But even as sturdy as   
  
they were, the circuits simply could not handle that sort of damage for   
  
very long. By the time Zero had gotten her to the repair bay, Iris's   
  
control processors had all but melted away to slag.  
  
In human terms, Iris had needed a heart transplant. That was a simple   
  
enough procedure; processor chips were standard enough that new ones   
  
could be fit in without much trouble. Fortunately for her, none of the   
  
power surge had hit her memory crystals; had that happened, she would   
  
have needed more than just some replacement microchips. But even so,   
  
repairing the physical damage to her system was quite an ordeal. She   
  
was lying in the repair tube, half-conscious, for over eight hours.  
  
Finally, the synthetic pain in her system receded, as fresh hardware   
  
was finally integrated into her newly-rebuilt system. After a   
  
diagnostic to assure that all was well, a tiny voltage was applied to   
  
her processor, starting it back up again. She opened her eyes.  
  
The first thing she saw was her own reflection, staring back at her   
  
with an impassive expression. She blinked, regarding herself for a   
  
moment, then turned her head as she saw something out the corner of her   
  
eye.  
  
Next to the capsule she was sealed into, there sat a reploid in shining   
  
red armor. His blond hair flowed down his back, extending down so far   
  
it almost touched the floor. His hands were clasped in front of him as   
  
he leaned on his knees. His head was tilted slightly down, and his   
  
eyes were closed. She could tell by the way his breath fogged the   
  
glass of the repair tube that he had fallen asleep.  
  
She regarded his face curiously. He was a handsome reploid, the   
  
bishounen qualities of his face somehow increasing the sense of   
  
masculinity. He looked peaceful, but not relaxed. Like a soldier,   
  
sleeping in the transport on the way to battle. It was almost as   
  
though he didn't know how to relax. Slowly, almost unaware of what she   
  
was doing, Iris reached out, flattening her hand against the glass of   
  
the repair tube, in front of his face. Feeling the warmth of his   
  
breath coming through the glass, she closed her eyes, just for a   
  
moment.  
  
Sensing its occupant's status, the repair tube beeped loudly,   
  
announcing to the room that repairs were completed. At this, the red   
  
reploid stirred, slowly waking up. Iris pulled back her hand as his   
  
eyes snapped open.  
  
He looked at her, eyes focusing quickly on her form. She saw something   
  
in his face: concern, and...guilt? Something tickled in her mind, at   
  
this. She had the vague feeling that she'd seen this expression once   
  
before, and that she was one of few people who had ever seen it.  
  
As he shifted his balance, turning slightly to get a better look at   
  
her, Iris caught a glimpse of something over his shoulder. A grip,   
  
some kind of weapon...  
  
Her eyes widened, as a repressed memory suddenly surfaced. She had   
  
seen that weapon activated, becoming a glowing beam of annihilation   
  
that this reploid could wield as a sword. She'd seen him use it   
  
against her, striking her down with it. His expression had been so   
  
different, then, she seemed to remember. Such grim determination,   
  
action with full knowledge of the unwanted consequences...and in it, a   
  
sort of coldhearted cruelty. Something devouring all emotions, all   
  
unnecessary feelings, in favor of the all-important Mission, that which   
  
must be carried out, no matter the cost.  
  
He stood, as the repair pod hissed open. His movements, smooth, and   
  
with controlled strength behind them, made Iris' eyes widen, slightly.   
  
She realized that before her stood a machine of war, something made to   
  
kill, and kill, and kill, until there was nothing left. And she was   
  
afraid.  
  
It reached for her, gingerly, with one white-gloved, armored hand. She   
  
remembered it as being the hand he used to wield the saber on his back.  
  
"Iris..." he said, quietly.  
  
She recoiled in fear, pulling her arms against herself protectively,   
  
trying to roll away in the tight confines of the repair pod. The   
  
reploid before her froze, his expression changing to something she   
  
could not comprehend. He closed his eyes, nodding mutely as he stepped   
  
away from her, his arm falling limp to his side.  
  
"I'm glad you're okay," he said, almost in a whisper. "I..." he cut   
  
off, his voice suddenly giving out. Shaking his head, he turned slowly   
  
and walked out. Iris watched him, feeling that his movements looked   
  
slow for some reason, his shoulders sagging just a little. She said   
  
nothing, even as the door slid shut behind him, leaving her alone in   
  
the repair bay.  
  
I hurt him.  
  
She heard the voice in her head.  
  
I hurt Zero.  
  
"What?" she asked the air, her voice emotionless. "Zero? That is that   
  
reploid's designation."  
  
Why does that always happen? I just wanted to be close to him.  
  
Iris sat up in the repair pod, putting one hand to her head. Even as   
  
she did this, her thoughts scrambled, becoming a medley of conflicting   
  
emotions.  
  
He wants to protect me.  
  
Another image surfaced, of the red reploid battling against a giant   
  
monster, a Maverick dragon-mech, that would have destroyed her.  
  
He wants to find a life outside of battle.  
  
An image of the reploid...Zero...laughing, as he told some joke. A   
  
picture of his face, smiling at her now, as she remembered herself   
  
laugh. Laughter...an alien reaction. Something that had been cut   
  
away, taken from her somehow.  
  
He doesn't have many friends. There aren't many people he'll show his   
  
smile to. He's afraid of losing them...  
  
Zero running towards her, as she lay on the ground, feeling her body   
  
fail. The look on his face...of horror, as he realized what he had   
  
done.  
  
I was one of them. I saw his smile, and he...  
  
"I just wanted to live...with you..." Iris mumbled under her breath.   
  
She shook her head, putting her hands over her ears in an effort to   
  
block out the sound, trying to drive away surfacing memories.  
  
I wanted to be close to him. I wanted him to see he didn't have to   
  
always be alone.  
  
One last memory, this one from not too long ago: of Zero, carrying her,   
  
the look on his face just short of panic. He'd held her against him,   
  
not wanting to lose her again. She remembered pain from her injuries,   
  
but also a strange sort of...warmth. A feeling of safety, a knowledge   
  
that no matter what happened, it would be all right.  
  
But I...I...  
  
"I hurt him..."  
  
Zero opened his eyes, feeling the sweat on his forehead.  
  
The maintenance pod opened immediately, and he sat up, breathing hard.   
  
Slowly, with shaking hands, he wiped the sweat off his face. He leaned   
  
forwards, holding his head in his hands. His sullen face betrayed   
  
little, but his thoughts were a mess.  
  
Watching Iris become that emotionless thing had been one of the most   
  
difficult experiences of his life. He'd known it would happen; it was   
  
standard procedure to reprogram Mavericks. He hadn't said anything,   
  
hadn't tried to make them stop from reprogramming her. Because it   
  
wasn't his duty to dictate policy on that matter. He was just a   
  
soldier, something made to bring down Mavericks. That sort of logic   
  
was enough to make him hate himself, at times.  
  
The term 'once-in-a-lifetime' means little to a machine, which can   
  
theoretically live forever. But looking at Iris, he understood what it   
  
meant, and understood that he'd missed out on it. He hadn't wanted to   
  
let her get close to him. But she'd gotten to him, all the same.  
  
It was her smile, he'd reasoned. The carefree smile she had, how she   
  
could so easily show it, had been enough to soften his warrior's heart.   
  
The sound of her laugh had been even stronger. Hearing Iris laugh,   
  
he'd often caught himself wondering if there was more to life than just   
  
fighting.  
  
Just once, he'd thought. Just once, he'd wanted to see her smile   
  
again. He'd wanted to know that the old Iris was somewhere in there,   
  
that he hadn't let them take her away. Today, he'd seen it. Finally,   
  
he'd seen her smile. But under such circumstances that he couldn't   
  
appreciate it, that the sight of it had almost killed him instead of   
  
saving him. Then, just when he'd begun to think that maybe something   
  
of the girl he knew was still in there, he'd seen it: fear. Iris was   
  
afraid of him.  
  
He couldn't blame her. Not many people could look on the face of their   
  
killer and smile. But...Iris had smiled, looking at him. That last   
  
time, when he'd struck her down...again, the sight of her smile hadn't   
  
warmed him, but frozen him, as it had finally come down on him that   
  
he'd personally destroyed something most people would kill for.  
  
The memory of that haunted him, kept hitting him in the middle of the   
  
night. He kept flashing back to that time, kept seeing himself go   
  
through the motions of battle, almost as though he weren't in control   
  
of himself. Then he saw Iris, lying there...  
  
It had been awhile since the memory actually been enough to wake him   
  
up. Tonight, understandably enough, it had been particularly vivid.   
  
He'd felt Iris in his arms, felt her go limp as life left her. And   
  
he'd felt a small part of him join her, dying there on the floor.  
  
He got out of the pod, shivering a little. At night the maintenance   
  
bay was kept at a chilly ten degrees Centigrade, helping to keep the   
  
computers here running at peak efficiency. In his armor, this sort of   
  
temperature would be nothing. But as he hadn't yet gotten back to   
  
duty, his armor was still in the pod, waiting for morning when it would   
  
clamp back onto his body.  
  
He looked up as the door hissed open. In the harsh contrast of the   
  
brightly-lit hall outside and the dark maintenance bay, Zero could make   
  
out little more than a dark outline. He squinted, his eyes adjusting   
  
quickly. He froze as he recognized Iris.  
  
It took him several seconds to get over the surprise and to process the   
  
data, trying to decide on a course of action. He finally decided that   
  
it would probably be best if he just lay back down and went back to   
  
sleep. However, by the time he'd reached this conclusion, Iris had   
  
crossed the width of the room and reached the cluster of maintenance   
  
pods Zero was among.  
  
He saw her eyes glowing dimly in the darkness, regarding him quietly.   
  
He could only look back, even more confused that before, and not   
  
knowing what to say.  
  
He watched, as Iris lifted her hand, reaching for him. He did not move   
  
as her fingers touched his face. He could only watch her, not   
  
understanding.  
  
"Zero..." she said, quietly, in the darkness.  
  
Something in her voice sounded different. Or rather, sounded familiar.   
  
Zero blinked, hearing it.  
  
"Zero...say something, please."  
  
The tone in her voice was enough to make him respond. "Iris? Is   
  
that...is that you? I mean...you?"  
  
He saw her silhouette nod, mutely. "Yes," she answered a moment later.   
  
Her voice wavered a little. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry for what I did.   
  
When I woke up, I wasn't...I mean...she wasn't gone yet, and...I'm   
  
sorry..."  
  
Zero lifted his own arm, reaching for her. This time, she did not draw   
  
back, but rather stepped forwards. The look in her liquid eyes was   
  
enough to make Zero follow through, putting his arm around her waist   
  
and pulling her up against him.  
  
"No..." he whispered. "No, don't you apologize..."  
  
"I'm sorry," Iris said into his chest.  
  
"No, I'm sorry," Zero replied, feeling his own voice starting to give   
  
out. "It's my fault..." his other arm went around her, drawing her   
  
closer. Iris was pushed up against him, her arms going around him to   
  
make the hug even tighter. They stood there, not saying a word, for a   
  
long time.  
  
Finally, he felt Iris shift in his arms. Zero looked down in time to   
  
see her look up at him.  
  
"I remember what happened," she said, quietly. "I remember being   
  
awake, but not being...me. I saw you, and I couldn't remember you..."  
  
Zero squeezed her, feeling his eyes going moist.  
  
"But then I heard you talking, how much it hurt you, to see me like   
  
this, and I had to do something..."  
  
Zero blinked, looking at her disbelievingly. "Are you saying - "  
  
Iris bit her lip, nodding. "I short-circuited myself," she answered.   
  
"I had to do it where I knew you'd find me. I knew, if I could just   
  
see you again..."  
  
Zero shut her up by drawing her close again. He felt his chest going   
  
moist from Iris' tears, and he lay his head down on hers. He held her   
  
tight, not needing to hear any more from her, just wanting to feel her   
  
against him, and feel that she was not afraid. He'd dreamt of this,   
  
too, but had passed it off as little more than a fantasy, something   
  
that could never happen.  
  
Sometimes, he realized, dreams can come true, even for reploids.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Endnote: What can I say, I'm a sucker for happy endings and   
  
resurrecting characters I didn't like seeing get killed. Besides,   
  
everyone knows Sigma and Zero have pulled off multiple comebacks from   
  
apparant death. I don't see why they should be the only ones.  
  
What Zero said regarding his skill as a maverick hunter is not   
  
necessarily this author's opinion.   
  
I have no plans for a sequel to this one; this was just a moment of   
  
pure insanity that, as I said, I cranked out in about 12 hours.   
  
However, it was an excellent recharge to the old creative batteries;   
  
perhaps another Mega Man X fic from me looms in the future.  
  
Send any comments to otakusadisthotmail.com.  
  
If you're an Eva fan, check out my other fics, and my web site: 8/28/03   
  
Ended: 10/11/03 


End file.
